The recent revelation from Sonic Youth bassist and ex-wife Kim Gordon in the May issue of Elle that Moore had a little side action going on during the recent years of their marriage might come as a surprise to some. But in listening to songs like the Roky Erickson homage "Empires of Time", "Frank O'Hara Hit"–which refers to the Dune Buggy death of the acclaimed mid-60s poet–and the relentlessly scrub-core closing cut "Communist Eyes", there's something fueling Thurston's thirst for throwback chaos.
Recorded in London, New York City, Echo Park, CA and Tornillo, Texas with such high profile producers as Dave Sitek, the DFA's James Murphy, legendary UK post-punk/new wave producer Nick Launay and longtime Yeahs associate Sam Spiegel (aka Squeak E. Clean), Mosquito is the Like A Prayer to Fever to Tell's Like A Virgin, right up to the rousing gospel choir that roars at the coda of the explosive opening track "Sacrilege".
Much ado has been made already about "I Like It Small", the lead single off Vanishing Point, the ninth solo album from Seattle grunge icons Mudhoney. Is it about dick size? Is it about the intimacy of the venues the band likes to play in? Apparently, both instances are correct, as Mark Arm and company kick off their 25th year serving as the ultimate alternative to commercial rock
After a good decade embedded in electric brimstone both with the Seeds on such masterpieces as Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus and Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! as well as the pair of aces conjured with his short-lived blues-punk outfit Grinderman, the Australian modern rock icon returns to the tender subtlety of 2003's Nocturama or, better yet, 1997's brilliant The Boatman's Call as songs like opening track "We No Who U R", "Water's Edge" and "We Real Cool" testify.
When you have a genuine rock icon like Robert Plant not only taking a shine to you but covering two of your songs and making them infinitely better than your originals, perhaps its a non-verbal cue to completely step up your game. This is the conundrum faced by Duluth, Minnesota slow-core greats Low upon entering the creative process for their latest LP, The Invisible Way
Allentown, Pennsylvania, was once known as one of the foregrounds of American industrial manufacturing, especially in the silk and textile markets, not to mention Mack Trucks. But while they closed many of the factories down, as Billy Joel once fastidiously proclaimed in his ode to the blue collar metropolis on 1982’s The Nylon Curtain, the spirit of the town’s metal-on-metal spirit lives large in the DNA of their local sons Pissed Jeans, who may have since relocated to more contemporary digs in Philadelphia but hasn’t lost an ounce of the post-hardcore edge they’ve branded into their creative psyche since 2005.
Over the last 15-odd years, it almost seemed unfathomable to think of a new Yo La Tengo album without the incorporation of a track that surpasses the 10 minute mark.
Two years after the break-up of post-metal juggernaut Isis, Aaron Turner once again turned the heavy community on its collective ear in 2012 when he announced that his influential imprint Hydra Head Industries was ceasing to release any more new albums just shy of its 20th anniversary as one of the most adventurous and innovative metal labels America has ever known.
The duality of the word "party" continues to get smeared like a tube of cheap lipstick as The Coup toss another timely molotov cocktail into this most heightened year in American politics with Sorry to Bother You.
When listening to the visceral eponymous debut of Ontario indie-core trio METZ, I cannot help but imagine the idea of Mudhoney's Mark Arm, who works for Sub Pop as their warehouse manager, smacking a copy of the group's demo on the A&R guy's desk lamenting, "Man, why aren't we signing bands like this anymore??"
